Hunted
by CTavanti
Summary: As the Titans are hunted down and assassinated one by one across the world the handful of survivors team up with an unlikely ally in an attempt to not just survive, but strike back.
1. Chapter 1: Spread Thin

Chapter 1: Spread Thin

Disclaimer: I'm not making money off this so I don't need a disclaimer.

...

Raven did her best not to stumble into the main room of Titans Tower, after having to take on Adonis by herself she was nursing a blow to the head and her left leg. Robin was the only other one in the room as she walked in holding her head.

"Raven! Perfect timing, I need you to go take care of Doctor Light, he's attacking the power plant on the east side of town."

"You've got to be kidding! I just had to fight Adonis all by myself, you go do it!" She scolded.

"I'm going to help Cyborg with Cinderblock, Beast Boy and Starfire are both on solo missions as well and I just got back myself... Come on Raven it's Doctor Light! He'll surrender as soon as he sees you, you won't even have to lift a finger!" Robin explained.

Raven growled, today has been nonstop since breakfast. It's as if every villain in Jump City picked today to start a new evil plan. "You do realize if this chaos doesn't end REAL soon then I'm going to just wipe this planet clean of every villain right?"

Robin put his hands on Raven's shoulders. "Believe me... I wish you could sometimes."

Raven took a deep breath and pulled her hood over her head, the physical contact working to calm her. Robin pulled away. "Fine."

...

Beast Boy, as a hummingbird, dodged Mammoth's charge, turned, morphed into an elephant and slammed Mammoth into a wall as he turned.

Reverting to his human form, Beast Boy asked his adversary; "So, where are your HIVE friends? Or did they kick you out for being too dumb?"

Mammoth shook his head, clearing the slight daze. He roared and charged again. Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla and locked fists with Mammoth in a grappling match. Mammoth pushed his head as close to Beast Boy's as he could and said; "so, where are your Titans friends? Or did they kick you out for being too weak!" He lurched forward, overcoming Beast Boy's enhanced strength and forcing the changeling to one knee. Feeling overpowered, he transformed into an oversized Brontosaurus and crushed Mammoth under his right foot.

Back to human form, Beast Boy stood over the defeated and barely-conscious giant, taking a breath as he did. Like the rest of the Titans, he had been going nonstop for the entire day, and his stamina was suffering for it. As Mammoth was being hauled to jail, the communicator on Beast Boys belt started to chirp. "Oh for the love of..." He groaned as he answered, "What now?!"

"Beast Boy, I just got a distress call from Starfire, she needs help at the docks!" Robin informed.

"No way dude you go help her! I've been going from one call to another all day!"

"We all have! I just had to send Raven to another call and I just arrived on scene to assist Cyborg..." Robin was cut off by an explosion in the background, causing him to drop his communicator. Beast Boy watched as he picked it back up. "Go! Call Raven if you need more help!" And that ended the transmission.

"Uuugghhh!" Beast Boy exclaimed in frustration before morphing into an eagle and flying toward the docks.

...

Raven arrived on scene, floating sixty feet above where Doctor Light was fiddling with a control panel. She saw a wrench laying on a table twenty feet behind him, possessed it, and hurled it at him. Upon being hit in the back of the head with the wrench, Doctor Light winced and recoiled in pain, after composing himself, he turned to where the object came from, infuriated; "Who threw that?!"

Raven landed right behind him "I did." Doctor Light stiffened in his stance upon hearing the voice he knew all too well, he slowly turned around, trembling violently in fear. "So... We going to do this the easy way?"

As the pathetic Doctor was being arrested, Ravens communicator started chirping. She screamed out in frustration, nearly crushing the device in her hand. "WHAT?!" She yelled, it was Beast Boy.

"Raven... We need help..." He was badly injured with blood running from his nose and mouth, Raven's mood changed drastically. "The docks... We..." The signal went to static. Raven's eyes glowed white as her body was engulfed in her black energy, taking shape of a large Raven and swiftly flying towards the docks at top speed.

...

Robin exhaled heavily, the battle with Cinderblock having taken its toll along with the half dozen other battles before it. He turned to Cyborg, who was using a welding type tool on his damaged right arm. "How is it?" Robin asked of Cyborg's appendage.

"Broken..." Cyborg replied as he put the tool away, "but nothing a couple hours at the workbench can't fix... If I ever get a couple hours." Both of their communicators came to life. "Oh for the love of... If my right arm wasn't busted I'd blast my left arm with it!"

Sighing in frustration, Robin answered, it was Raven. "Go ahead Raven."

"You need to come down to the docks... We have a situation" she was calm, as was the background, adding to Robin's unease.

"We're on our way" Robin replied, concerned.

"That was cryptic" Cyborg quipped.

"Yeah... Something isn't right, let's go" The dread was evident in both their voices.

...

"No..." Robin whispered as he approached Raven, who was standing over a body. The image became more clear as he got closer and was able to identify the body; Beast Boy. "Is he...?"

Her eyes closed, Raven nodded yes, "I tried to revive him... His injuries were too much" she said, the slightest hint of choking up evident in her voice. Cyborg fell to his knees next to his fallen teammate, his jaw slightly agape and an otherwise blank expression on his face, seemingly in a trance. "That's... Not all" Raven said, fighting the urge to let her emotions show.

Robin slowly lifted his head to look at Raven, "... Starfire?" He whispered. Raven closed her eyes and took a breath, then turned to her left, looking towards the shore. Robin looked in the same direction and started walking, thirty yards later, he found Starfire's remains. He began breathing heavily, his face demonstrating extreme anger and sorrow at the same time, unable to chose which to express.

"I feel sorry for whoever did this..." Cyborg said, his voice deadly serious.

...

Back at Titans Tower, Robin was typing furiously at one of the computer terminals while Raven and Cyborg discussed the teams next move. "We need to focus, we can't just run into whatever did this blind" Raven said.

"Oh I'm thinking clearly..." Cyborg began in a calm, but anxious tone. "We're going to find whoever did this and turn them inside out."

"There was nothing at the scene that pointed at any one villain, whoever did it covered their tracks..." Raven pondered.

"Or it's someone new" Cyborg suggested.

The pair thought for a short time before Raven spoke again; "Find anything Rob-" she stopped upon seeing Robin was no longer at the computer, nor anywhere within the room. Just as Cyborg began to walk towards the computer, the alarm sounded, he was unflinching, ignoring the alarm completely as he approached, Raven put a hand on his shoulder.

"We still have a duty here..." She said.

"We have a duty to our friends..."

"And we will fulfill it... I know I wouldn't want you neglecting the city for me, and I know Beast Boy and Starfire would feel the same way..." Raven lectured, Cyborg sighed deeply. "We will find who killed them and we will make them pay... But we need to deal with this first, people need our help."

After another sigh, Cyborg lifted his arm. "Cyborg to Robin... We have an alert, we need to regroup, over" there was no response. "Cyborg to Robin... Answer your communicator Robin."

Raven checked the alert to get more information, Overload was at it again. She shook her head and approached Cyborg, who was still trying to get a hold of Robin. "It's okay Cyborg, we can handle Overload ourselves."

He turned to look at Raven. "We can, but what about Robin? He might be in trouble."

"He's not... He's chasing a lead, we'll catch up to him" she said, walking to the door.

"You sure?"

"Raven stopped and turned her head back at Cyborg. "Robin and I have a bond remember? If anything happens to him I'll know... Come on, Overload needs to be stopped."

...

Enroute to the scene of Overload's crime in progress, Raven and Cyborg's communicators came alive. "Argent to the Teen Titans, can anyone hear me?"

"Go ahead Argent" Raven replied.

"I don't know who they were, but I got ambushed, barely managed to escape... I'm injured and on the run and need somewhere safe to lay low, can you help?"

"Come to Titans Tower" Cyborg suggested, "I'll give you a one-time use code to get in, use whatever facilities you need when you get there."

"Thank you!" Argent said, her face lighting up with relief.

"This day just keeps getting better and better" Raven mused.

...

Robin arrived at his destination; a half-collapsed warehouse. Standing in the middle of the structure on top of a pile of rubble, he called out; "Come out!... I know you're here and you're going to pay for what you did!"

From the shadows, a figure began to appear, Robin threw an explosive disk at it. The weapon detonated but the figure was gone after the dust settled. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?" A mechanized voice said.

Robin spun around in the direction the voice came from and saw Red X hanging upside down from the small part of ceiling that was still intact. "Red X..." Robin spat, being surprised. He knew this is where the lead was, but he didn't know _who_ he would find here, Red X was not high on his list of suspects. "So you are a psychopath afterall..."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well you bastard!" Robin yelled, pointing at the criminal. "You killed two of my friends... And for that you're going to suffer!"

"You always did have a wild imagination" Red X mocked as he dropped from his perch to attack.

...

The threat Overload posed, just like in the past, was somewhat minimal, Raven and Cyborg defeated him quickly and were now debating whether to return to the Tower to assist Argent or to rendezvous with Robin.

"She said she was injured" Raven said.

"Yeah, and we have a state of the art infirmary at the Tower that she can use, she might not even be there yet! We need to link up with Robin and-" He stopped talking as soon as Raven gasped and turned to her left, eyes wide as saucers. "Raven...?"

"Robin... No... Robin!" She blurted out as she ran, leapt into the air and became engulfed in her dark energy.

"Wait!" Cyborg yelled to no avail.


	2. Chapter 2: Decimated

Chapter 2: Decimated

...

Raven arrived at the collapsed warehouse just as a sudden rain started up. "Robin..." She muttered to herself as she tried to focus to pinpoint her teammate's exact position. It took a few moments, but finally she was able to hone in on Robin's location; he was under a large boulder. Raven used her powers to move the boulder only to find Robin's crushed body beneath it. Upon seeing the gorey sight, tears started to well up in her eyes "No..." She stuttered as she dropped to her knees next to the body. "Robin... Why did I not listen to Cyborg?" She asked aloud. Her mourning was interrupted by the sound of falling rocks and a groan. She looked up, trying to identify where exactly it was.

Seconds later, she saw Red X rising from the fresh rubble, holding his head. Her eyes glowed white and her dark energy covered her hands as she levitated to the adversary. "You bastard!"

Red X was barely able to turn his head before he was blindsided by a piece of debris. He was sent flying and hit again from above, slamming him into the ground on his back. Groaning, he attempted to get up but was hit again by another piece of broken building. Defeated, he laid on the ground and watched as a massive slab of concrete was levitated above him. "Wait" he choked out.

Raven walked over to him, keeping clear of the concrete she was holding above him. "You killed Robin... Now I'm going to kill you!"

"I didn't kill him!" X exclaimed.

Annoyed at the denial, Raven turned the slab vertically and lowered it so a piece of exposed rebar was pushed against X's chest. "Defiant to the end... Give my father my regards!"

"Look around! Look at the walls! I don't have any weapons that would make blast patterns like that! We got ambushed!" X pleaded. Raven paused, the white glow in her eyes fading. She looked at the walls that were still standing and saw scorch marks from plasma guns. "These guys, they came out of nowhere and attacked me _and_ Robin!" X explained, trying in vain to push the rebar away. "They got the drop on us, we didn't have a chance."

Raven returned her gaze to him, not convinced. "Then why is it you survived and Robin didn't?"

"They were focusing more on him than me... It was like I was an afterthought... I got hit a couple times and buried, I stayed put until the shooting stopped."

"So you didn't even try to help him?"

X grunted, "Come on... Do you remember who you're talking to?"

Raven growled, pushing the rebar further against X's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you anyway!"

"You kill me... You lose your only lead to who did this."

Raven's infuriated facial expression didn't change. She closed her eyes and waved her hand, causing the slab she had possessed to fly off to the side harmlessly. Now calm, she told X; "I'm only going to say this once... If you're lying, I will kill you slowly and painfully... You got that?"

"Promises, promises."

...

Argent was flying as fast as she could to Titans Tower, but in her wounded state she couldn't reach her top speed. Two trickling streams of blood ran down her forehead and over her right eye, originating from an injury above her hairline. She was clutching the lower portion of her left ribcage with her right hand, doing her best to nurse another injury. She moved her hand away and looked at it to see her palm was covered in blood. Grunting, she put her hand back over the wound and kept going.

As she flew, she saw a large fireball lift from street level ahead, she slowed down, unsure if it was safe to continue. She approached slowly, looking down to the street below and saw at least three-dozen armored soldiers running down the street, but she couldn't see what they were chasing. It then dawned on her that these soldiers were dressed the same as the ones who had attacked her, she quickly landed on a roof so as not to be seen. "Shit, who are they after?" She asked herself, figuring it was one of her allies. She took to the air, staying very low along the rooftops, eventually she caught up to the soldiers, who had stopped and taken a defensive position. One of them threw a grenade at a stack of crates, the only obstacle in the street. The detonation destroyed the crates and sent the person behind them flying back; Hotspot.

Disoriented and now exposed, Hotspot was severely vulnerable. The soldiers raised their weapons and fired, Argent swooped in and formed a large barrier with her crimson energy, "Hotspot!" She yelled, landing a few feet to his side, still clutching her side and using her left arm to hold the barrier, she was struggling to keep it together.

"Uggghhh... What? Argent?" Hotspot said, holding his head.

"Get out of here!" She yelled.

"And leave you? No way!" He said as he got up, he looked at Argent's barrier, which was showing sign of failing, and shot a powerful beam of flame between it and the two heroes, creating a wide crater with open flame. Hotspot quickly powered down and moved to Argent, who had fallen to one knee, and helped her to her feet, running further down the street and rounding a corner as her barrier faded. "What happened to you? And why are you here?"

"The same thing that that happened to you, or was about to... Those same kinds of soldiers attacked me."

"Why? What do they want?" Hotspot asked.

"I don't know but right now we need to get away, I'm on my way to Titans Tower in Jump City, come with me, the Titans can help us!"

"Good idea" Hotspot said, he powered up and the pair took to the skies, flying low and using the buildings for cover until they felt they were far enough away to take to higher altitude.

...

In the infirmary of Titans Tower, Raven assessed Red X's injuries. "You've got internal bleeding in addition to what's obvious, I'm going to need to knock you out so our machine can do it's thing."

"No thanks" X quipped, "I'll take my-" Raven turned and pointed her energy-covered hand at the man on the table, knocking him out.

"That attitude is going to be the death of you" Raven mumbled to herself as she pulled out her communicator. "Raven to Cyborg" she got no answer, sending a chill down her spine. She quickly activated the communicators locator mode so she could find Cyborg, as soon as she had a lock on location she engulfed herself in her raven-shaped power and passed through the walls.

...

Argent and Hotspot arrived at Titans Tower to find an unexpected guest sitting at the entrance; Speedy, who stood up and readied an arrow.

"Speedy! It's us!" Hotspot yelled as he and Argent landed near him.

"Hotspot? Argent? What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same question" Hotspot replied.

Speedy sighed and put his arrow away. "Titans East was attacked... I was the only one that made it out alive."

"Let me guess..." Argent began, "faceless soldiers dressed in grey and red armor, plasma rifles and at least thirty of them?"

Speedy looked surprised, "how did-?"

"Same thing happened to us" Argent said. "Come on, I can get us in the Tower."

Upon entering, the trio made their way to the infirmary, Argent laid down on a bed while Hotspot, now powered down, and Speedy administered the medical help she needed. "Two broken ribs, mild concussion, abrasions to the torso, plasma burns on various parts of the body... She took a hell of a beating" Speedy said as he read the diagnostics computer.

"And she still managed to save my sorry ass" Hotspot said.

Speedy turned towards the unconscious girl on the bed. "We need to patch up that wound on her side, it's pretty bad."

Hotspot turned his eye towards the redhead. "So... We have to take her clothes off?" He asked sheepishly.

Speedy nodded. "This is for medical purposes, if you can't be professional about it, step out."

"Hey, I'm perfectly professional!" Hotspot said, pointing his thumb to his chest.

"Really? Then why are you getting all hot under the collar about taking an injured girls clothes off?"

Hotspot growled and walked around the bed, getting in Speedy's face. "You got a problem Robin Hood?"

Speedy pushed him away, causing Hotspot to stagger backward, bumping into another bed. "Take a walk hot head!" Speedy spat.

Enraged, Hotspot powered up, an ember burning atop his head. "Say that again!"

From the far side of the room, to Hotspot's right and Speedy's left, came a mechanized voice; "well, Raven didn't say anything about having friends over."

Speedy and Hotspot turned in the direction of the voice, seeing the caped figure sitting on another bed. "Who are you?" Hotspot asked.

"He's Red X..." Speedy answered, remembering from the list of villains the Titans left for him on his brief stay in Jump City years ago.

"Nice to hear my reputation precedes me" Red X mocked, "So who are you two?"

"Your worst nightmare... How did you get in here?" Speedy said, drawing an arrow and pointing it at X. Hotspot put two and two together and assumed a combat stance next to his ally, putting aside their personal grievance.

"I was invited, maybe it's you two who are intruding!" X said just as he fired two X's out of his palms, one at Speedy and the other at Hotspot. Speedy released his arrow and Hotspot two beams of fire in retaliation, all three of their attacks were stopped by a black barrier forming between them.

"You three done playing who has the biggest dick?" Raven said, causing the three men to look at her, she lowered the barrier. "We're all on the same side here, so like it or not we're all going to be looking out for each other... Where's Argent?" Speedy snapped out of his confusion and turned his gaze to Argent, who was still unconscious on the bed, cut off from Raven's view by a curtain. She walked around, seeing the badly injured Honorary Titan. "She's in bad shape."

"Yeah, she has two broken ribs-" Speedy was cut off by Raven.

"I've got it."

"But, don't you-?" Speedy was cut off again.

"I said I've got it" Raven repeated as she walked closer to Argent.

"So... Where's the rest of the team?" Hotspot asked.

Without turning around, Raven answered; "They're all dead." She used her power to close the curtain between her and the others.


	3. Chapter 3: Survivors

Chapter 3: Survivors

...

Raven looked down at the unconscious Argent, blood had seeped into the sheets around her left side and head. _"God... You didn't seem even close to this bad when you called..."_ Raven thought to herself. She held her hands right above the other girls injured side; "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" she whispered, casting a healing spell. Minutes passed, then Raven spread the spell to the rest of Argent's body, healing the bruises and burns. Finally, Raven put her hands on Argent's head and healed the concussion.

She sat down, having done all she could, which was a lot. It was now a matter of waiting for Argent to wake up so the "team" could figure out what to do next.

...

Red X, Hotspot and Speedy relocated to the common room of the Tower, unsure of what else to do. "Are we sure we should be letting this guy wander around the Tower freely?" Hotspot said to Speedy, motioning to Red X.

X laughed, "I already know this Tower better than both of you put together... Where do you think I got this suit?"

Hotspot turned to face the masked man, confused, but not breaking stride. "What do you mean?"

"He means..." Speedy began, "he stole that suit from the Tower's vault..." He turned his head to side-eye X. "How did you manage to do that anyway?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

Speedy rolled his eyes behind his mask, knowing X wasn't going to tell. "So what are we supposed to do? Even if Argent pulls through we don't even know what we're up against, and we all got our asses handed to us already."

"What is this _we_ business?" X asked as he sat down on the U-shaped sofa. "I'm only here to tell Raven what I saw, after that I'm gone."

Speedy and Hotspot sat on the other end of the sofa, keeping a sizable gap between them and the thief. "I'm almost surprised you're feeling so charitable X..." Speedy said, "what's the occasion?"

"Let's just say Raven did something for me in exchange for it" X said dryly. Hotspot and Speedy looked at each other with quirked eyebrows, then turned their eyes to Red X without moving their heads, X sensed the dirty ideas going through their minds. "You two have your minds in the gutter you know that?"

...

Argent began to stir, slowly waking up from her near comatose sleep. Once she opened her eyes she looked to her left to see Raven sitting in a chair, reading a book. "Raven?"

Raven closed her book and placed it on the small table next to her. "How are you feeling? I did what I could to heal your wounds but they're not one-hundred percent, you're going to want to take it easy."

Argent slowly sat up in the bed, crossing her legs, she could feel a mild pain on her left side. "Have you found out anything?"

Raven knew she was talking about the soldiers who had attacked them, she shook her head no. "Seems like I'm the only one who hasn't encountered these mystery villains... Is there anything you can tell me about them?"

Argent tilted her head to the left, producing an audible cracking sound. "They ambushed me just outside Auckland... There were a lot of them, at least thirty... The attack was unprovoked and they got me completely off guard, I barely managed to escape... I'm sorry, I just don't know anything else..."

"It's okay..." Raven said, leaning in and resting her elbows on her knees. "None of them said anything?" Argent shook her head, Raven nodded. "So basically what we know so far is that these guys attack in large groups and have been targeting us individually... Probably to increase their chances of getting each of us."

Argent thought for a moment before a question popped into her head. "Raven... Where is everybody else?"

Raven lowered her eyes, knowing what she meant. "Hotspot and Speedy went to the common room with Red X" she said, trying to avoid the issue.

Argent paused, then spoke; "no... The others, Robin, Cyborg... Bumble Bee, Aqualad... Bushido... Where are they?" Raven returned her eyes to Argent, staring coldly at her, silently. Argent leaned back slightly, shaking her head, her face holding devastated expression. "No..." She muttered. The other girl closed her eyes, the slightest hint of a tear forming at the outer edge of her right eye. Minutes passed, both girls struggling to keep their composure. Finally, after several deep breaths, Raven spoke.

"I have one other lead... You should stay here and rest."

"I'm fine" Argent spat, irritated. "I want to get these bastards."

...

"So where did you train?" Speedy asked X.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said... You're a master martial artist and clearly have training in clandestine operations, so where did you learn?"

X paused, wondering if the archer already knew the answer. "Didn't I tell you a magician never reveals his secrets?"

Speedy groaned, "look, enough with the cryptic mystery bit, either answer the question or don't."

X smiled behind his mask, figuring he would have some fun. "Do you know Robin's real name?"

Speedy's eyes narrowed, wondering where the criminal was going with this. After a long pause, he answered truthfully; "no."

"Well I do..." X began, "he and I have a mutual friend."

Speedy turned his head toward X, not believing the first thought that came to him. "Batman?"

Before Red X could answer, the door at the back of the room opened, Raven and Argent entered. As they walked towards the boys Raven noticed they had interrupted something. "Don't stop your conversation on our account..."

"It was done anyway" X began, "so ask your questions, then I can get out of here."

Raven looked Red X right in the eye. "What happened?"

"Basically..."

...

 _"You always did have a wild imagination..." Red X mocked as he dropped from his perch to attack._

 _Robin threw two birdarangs at the criminal, X countered them with two goop X's. As soon as he hit the ground, he launched a shuriken at Robin, who dropped to the ground to dodge, barely low enough for the weapon to miss. When Robin got back up he saw X was no longer in front of him, he instinctively moved his head to the right, feeling a fist graze his hair. He spun around, throwing a left-handed punch at X, who caught it with his left hand. X countered with an attempted right hook to Robins gut but the boy wonder caught him by the wrist with his right hand._

 _The two fighters pushed against each other in their awkward grappling position, with Robin having less leverage in his footing. "Why did you do it?!" He demanded._

 _"I'd be more worried about your footing" X mocked as he felt his opponent slipping. But before X could fully overpower him, both of them heard a metallic clang followed by beeping. They stopped their grapple and turned their head to see a grenade of some sort just feet away. They both broke away, each going in opposite directions as the grenade exploded, sending both of them flying. X hit the wall and fell to a ledge. Disoriented, he looked to the floor below him, seeing thirty or more grey and red soldiers running towards where Robin was thrown, which was out of his immediate sight. He heard shooting and explosions, followed by a deep boom that shook the entire building. "The hell is going on?" He wondered aloud. As he began to rise after the shooting stopped he was hit in the chest by one of the soldiers, knocking him back against the wall, the same soldier threw another grenade above X, unable to react quick enough, the grenade exploded and buried him under a pile of rubble._

...

Raven stared at X, as if she was expecting him to say more, after a few seconds she spoke; "That's it?"

X remained stoic, "well when I woke up you attacked me, but you already know that part."

Ravens eyes glowed white and X found himself encased, save his head, in a tomb of dark energy, he struggled fruitlessly. "You're going to have to do a whole hell of a lot better than that!" Raven furiously yelled.

"Raven!" Argent screamed, desperate the deescalate the situation. "Hang on..." She began, more calmly. "Maybe he knows more than he realizes..." She walked closer to X, who was still behind held in place. "These soldiers, did any of them say anything? Was anybody with them like a leader or something?"

X continued to struggle against Raven's hold to no avail, eventually giving up and taking a breath. "before I lost consciousness I heard a voice, male, sounded really raspy, like he had a sore throat."

"Was it General Immortus?" Speedy asked, standing up and getting the attention of everybody in the room.

"I don't know who it was, I was buried and blacking out!" X spat.

Hotspot chimed in "it couldn't be, General Immortus and the Brotherhood of Evil are frozen in Paris... Aren't they?"

Raven, looking at Hotspot and Speedy wide-eyed, turned her head to Argent, silently asking if she knew if the villains were still frozen, Argent slowly shook her head. Raven released Red X and began walking toward the back of the room. "Come on, we're going to Paris."

As the three other Titans moved to join their defacto leader, Red X spoke "well I'll just show myself the door then-"

"You're coming too" Raven interrupted.

"Uhh, no."

"Uhh,yeah... Clearly whoever is behind this wants you dead too, even if they weren't originally after you they don't want a witness running around, you need us and we need you" Raven explained.

X paused, "I'll take my chances."

Raven stopped just before getting through the door, causing the other Titans to do the same. She turned and faced the masked man. "You sat back and watched Robin die, you owe it to him to help us out" she said, appealing to X's sense of honor.

X paused again, pondering the situation. "Fine, but once this is over, I walk, got it?"

"Walk, teleport, whatever... You'll give us another chance I'm sure" Raven said as she turned back around and continued out of the room, followed by the others.


	4. Chapter 4: Immortal, not Invulnerable

Chapter 4: Immortal, not Invulnerable

The flight was long, even in the fast T-ship, but eventually the group arrived at their destination. "Has anybody put any thought into what we're going to do if they're not here?" Hotspot asked.

"Or if they are" Argent added.

"We deal with it..." Raven began. "If they're the ones that killed our friends we make them pay."

The five navigated the long, winding corridors of the former Brotherhood of Evil base until they arrived at the main atrium, where the Brotherhood, along with most other villains, should be flash frozen. They all looked to the left simultaneously at the multi-level display section...

"No..." Raven muttered, wide-eyed.

It was empty.

"Who-?" Argent asked aloud, in shock.

"Pfft..." X spat. "What a surprise, leave a bunch of villains totally unattended and they get away."

Speedy slowly turned towards X, furious at the comment. Like a flash, he grabbed X by the throat. "You think this is some kind of game?!"

X kicked the archer away, causing him to stagger. "I've entertained your little escapade long enough, you found what you came for so I'm gone."

"You're not going anywhere!" Raven demanded, turning to face him along with Hotspot and Argent. "You know more than you're telling us, I can sense it, so start talking, now!"

"And what if I don't?" X asked rhetorically, assuming a battle stance.

Before Raven or any of the others could respond, an explosion from the far side of the room blew the five of them to the ground. Slightly disoriented, Speedy pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his head. He looked at where the explosion happened and saw a wave of black and grey soldiers pouring into the room. "We got company!" He yelled as the others shook the daze from their eyes. Speedy jumped to his feet and launched an arrow while Raven and Argent took to the air. The arrow hit one soldier and short-circuited him, revealing that they were not human, but robots.

Seeing this, Hotspot declared "Don't hold back!" Just before forming a fireball and launching it at the enemies.

As the smoke cleared, Raven spotted a prime target - General Immortus. "Argent! I've got eyes on Immortus, we need to capture him!"

Argent had spotted the General at the same time Raven did, and also saw his position was well-defended. "That's going to be a lot easier said than done!"

"Clear them out if we have to, but do not let Immortus escape!"

Hotspot leaped into the air and landed in the middle of a group of robot soldiers. He charged up his arms, creating long blades of fire, he extended his arms to his sides and spun around, cutting through the robots within a twenty foot radius like a knife through butter. He stopped spinning and hurled another fireball at more of them.

Argent formed a disk shaped object with her red energy and made it spin like a buzzsaw perpendicular to the ground then sent it barreling towards the enemies approaching her. Some were able to dodge it but others were hit with varying degrees of damage between losing an arm and being cut clean in two. The surviving robots continued approaching as Argent created a red barrier between her and them, then pushed it forward, bulldozing those that remain. She launched into the air, approaching Raven, who was using broken pieces of defeated robots to attack the rest. "Raven! Have you noticed these aren't the same soldiers that came after us?"

"They're just different colors!" Raven exclaimed, having noticed the grey and black versus grey and red. "Incoming!" Raven and Argent both created rectangular barriers between them and the incoming barrage of fire, placing them next to each other as the pair were only feet apart.

"No Raven, these ones aren't human... The ones that came after us were human."

Raven turned her head to look at Argent, shocked. "Are you saying General Immortus isn't behind this?"

"I'm saying these are not the ones that attacked us!"

Raven's confusion lasted only as long as it took her to realize her shield was beginning to fail along with Argent's. "Dammit, cover me!" She said as she dove downward to the ground, she formed another shield in front of her and lunged full speed into the throng of robots, knocking some of them down as she went. When she reached a clearing and was surrounded she pushed her right arm in the air, launching a dozen strings of dark energy in a dozen different directions, each one zapping a soldier. Argent saw her opportunity. Her right fist glowing, she plunged to the ground, pounding it with her fist and sending a shockwave in all directions, downing more robots in wider radius than Raven. "Trying to show me up?" Raven said with a smirk.

Argent stood and turned to Raven, an especially sly expression on her face. The girls moment was interrupted as more robots poured into the room, blasting away. "What the hell, how many of these things does he have?!" Argent exclaimed in frustration.

Using a rope arrow, Speedy was pulled into the air. He drew back a trio of arrows, pointing them at the front line of the new wave of robots. He launched them, precisely spacing them and hitting right at the feet of the front line. The arrows exploded, eliminating most of the front line, but still a seemingly endless wave of enemies continued to fill the room and the Titans quickly found themselves surrounded.

Hotspot sprung into action, flying directly above his allies and shooting beams of fire around them, creating a moat of fire to keep enemies away. Raven flew up to join Hotspot, Argent and Speedy locked wrists as she pulled him up to regroup with their friends. "Fall back! We'll get overwhelmed!" Raven yelled, seeing the numbers quickly adding up against them. They retreated to the other side of the room and took to the ground, right next to Red X. "Oh, you're still here?" Raven spat.

"Well you four seemed to be having so much fun I thought I'd let you have it" Red X replied sarcastically.

"Are you going to help us or not?" Hotspot demanded.

Red X paused, narrowing his eyes. He placed his right hand over his lower chest, the X on his front began to glow, it floated out of his outfit and into his hand, growing in length and forming a red, medieval-style sword.

Raven watched wide-eyed, "Have you always had that?"

"Sure have... Makes you wonder what Robin thought he would need it for doesn't it?" X replied. He assumed a battle stance holding the sword high and across his chest, pointing it at the robots. The Titans took their own battle stances in the face of an army bearing down on them.

Speedy launched an arrow front and center, it exploded in a cloud of smoke in front of the robots, temporarily blocking their line of sight. He launched another rope arrow and swung to another part of the room.

Red X charged to the opposite side, slicing one enemy at the waist as he went and launching a shock X at another.

"Hotspot, take the air, hit them from above!" Raven called.

"You got it!" He replied, springing upwards.

"Argent!" Raven said as she pushed her wrists together, keeping her palms open in a Goku's Kamehameha-esque stance. "We hit them at the same time we can cut a path right to Immortus, ready?"

Argent nodded, mimicking Raven's pose. The girls powered up their energies and simultaneously hurled beams of black and crimson, creating a swirl that materialized into a single unstoppable attack that vaporized dozens of robots and cut a wide path down the middle of the horde. Hotspot threw his own beams of fire on the edges of the path, preventing the enemies from closing it with walls of fire. The girls saw their chance, they made a beeline down their path, flying just feet above the ground. General Immortus, amazed at the display of power he had just witnessed, was rooted where he stood, unable to process a clear thought on what to do. "Raven, you take care of him, I'll help the others clear out the rest!"

Raven nodded and Argent flew higher to join Hotspot.

Speedy was in the process of cutting his own path through the robots, hitting them one by one at close range with shock arrows. He leapt onto the chest of one enemy, stabbing it in the head with an arrow then pushing off it and onto another. He fired an arrow at a third robot before smacking the head off the one he was standing on, then leapt into the air again.

Red X cut an enemy down the middle vertically then spun around, dragging his blade across the ground and swiped up, halving another. He shot a sticky X at a third robot, hitting it on the eyes and blocking its view, causing it to fire its weapon sporadically, hitting several other enemies. X impaled another robot through the chest then launched a shuriken X at another, the weapon piercing through the armor effortlessly and travelling completely through, seemingly losing no energy.

Raven descended onto General Immortus' position, the ancient man offering no attempt at resistance or escape. "You killed a lot of my friends... Now you're going to pay" Raven announced with a wickedness to her voice.

General Immortus' face changed from amazement to confusion, meekly, he replied "What?"

Before Raven could get another word out, she heard Argent yell "Speedy watch out!" Raven turned just in time to see the horrific event unfold. Red X's shuriken had passed through three robots but had not changed trajectory and Speedy was right in its path. The archer turned far too late, the X sliced across the front of throat and kept going. Blood poured from his neck like a waterfall, he dropped his bow and put his hands over the wound, dropping to his knees. He was unable to hinder the bleeding in the least as repulsive gurgling escaped his airway. After a short time, Speedy collapsed to the ground in a massive pool of blood.

Barely able to turn away from Speedy's lifeless body, Raven managed to turn her gaze to Red X, he was still engaging robots, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. She began to step toward the edge of the platform she was on, away from General Immortus, who saw his chance, he began to run in the opposite direction.

"Raven!" Argent called out, causing the sorceress to stop in her tracks. "We'll deal with him later, get Immortus!"

Raven snapped out of it, turning back toward the General, who was nearly at the exit. She put up a black wall of energy, cutting off his escape. As he turned, Raven flew towards him and round-house kicked him in the jaw, sending him to the ground. A small controller of some sort fell out of one of his pockets and slid away, Raven possessed it and brought it to her left hand. There were several buttons on the device including a large red one, she pressed it and suddenly all the shooting behind her ceased as the robots shut down. She tossed the device.

"Argent, keep this guy right here" Raven ordered. Argent obliged and formed a red cage around the General, ensuring he went nowhere as Hotspot landed on the platform. Raven flew down to Red X and created a collar of dark energy around his neck, lifting him several feet into the air. "Do you not see what you did?!" She demanded of the thief.

X, struggling fruitlessly against the dark energy, blurted "it was an accident!"

Only getting angrier, Raven possessed X's dropped sword, bringing it to her right hand and holding it in a threatening manner. Hotspot landed next to her. "Raven... It was an accident."

"We all saw it happen..." Argent began from her raised platform. "He didn't mean to do it."

Still enraged, Raven looked over at Speedy. She closed her eyes tight, unsure what to do.

"Let it go..." Hotspot said, "at least for right now, we have General Immortus and we need to deal with him first."

It seemed to take forever, But Raven finally, reluctantly, released X from her grasp. He fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air. Still with X's sword in hand, she flew back up to where Argent was holding the General. "Alright then... General Immortus... Who released you?"

The General smiled and laughed with sinister wickedness. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

The General simply smiled in defiance. "Fine then... Argent?" Raven said, Argent getting the message and dissipating the cage. "Don't make me do this the hard way."

"I have lived since before recorded human history... I've fought in wars the human race isn't even aware ever happened..." He began as he stood up. "I am immortal, you cannot harm me!"

As fast as she could, Raven stabbed General Immortus in his right foot with X's sword, causing the man to cry out in pain. "You think you're the only one in this world whose immortal?" She pulled the sword out of his foot and jabbed him in the jaw with its hilt, causing the General to fall to the ground. Raven leaned in to the injured man and said "yeah you're immortal alright, but that's only half the battle isn't it? You will never die... Unless someone kills you." Immortus looked at Raven, visibly angry. "Struck a nerve did I? Don't be so surprised, I live with the same curse."

Argent, Hotspot and Red X, who had joined the remaining Titans on the platform, stared at the blue-clad girl wide-eyed at her revelation of immortality.

"You're immortal" Raven began, pointing the tip of the sword against Immortus' throat. "But you're not invulnerable... So start talking."

General Immortus spat to the side. "You mentioned earlier that I killed many of your friends..." Raven nodded, "well, as much as I would like to take credit for such a thing, it wasn't me. I heard you and H'San Natall speak of human soldiers coming after you... I never use human soldiers, too many problems, robots have no problems, no fear, no thoughts of rebellion. I don't know who killed your friends but when you find out please let me know so I can shake their hand."

Raven couldn't explain the feeling, but she sensed he was telling the truth, she turned to Red X. "Is his voice the one you heard?"

X shook his head. "No... The voice I heard was a lot deeper and not so... Old sounding."

Raven handed X his sword back. "Tie him up" she said. X returned the sword to its housing then hit General Immortus with two large, sticky X's that wrapped around his body, effectively immobilizing him. "Come on... We have a lot to talk about."


End file.
